The field of the invention relates generally to industrial radio radio devices for wirelessly communicating data, and more specifically to high, power, long range communication radio devices communicating data in a user-selected and specified network communication protocol associated with, for example, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems.
SCADA systems are in widespread use for monitoring and controlling industrial processes of all types. Such SCADA systems typically include a number of remotely monitored locations including sensors, transducers, and other known elements utilized as control inputs to the SCADA system. Data and information associated with such elements at each of the remotely monitored locations can be wirelessly communicated with radio devices to other locations in the system in a communications network of radios, and ultimately are provided to a centralized computer system that manages data collection and allows coordinated control and operation of industrial processes in response to the data collected. Control commands can likewise be sent to the remote locations using a communications network including radio devices. In certain applications, the use of long range radio devices in the communication networks are a practical necessity, and thus have generally been widely adopted in certain industries for use with SCADA systems.
Long range radio devices may transmit and receive digital radio frequency signals to wirelessly transmit data and information over distances of 10-20 km, for example, and as such are relatively high power devices. Because of the relatively high power necessary to operate such long range devices, the radio devices are typically not battery powered devices, but rather are connected to line power supplies when installed.
The long range radio devices must be configured prior to installation with the necessary communication parameters to communicate in a SCADA system network according to a specified communications protocol. For example, the radios must be configured with the necessary network ID information for the communication nodes in which they are installed, must be equipped with a radio ID number compatible with but unique from the other radios in the communication network, and must be configured with communication protocol parameters in order to assemble valid signals for transmission on the network in the proper form for the specified protocol. In exemplary situations, the number of different communication parameters necessary for a specified protocol may easily reach thirty to forty or more different protocol parameters that each radio device must be configured with to effectively communicate on the network. Such radio devices are typically configured with the protocol parameters using appropriate software applications.